Palliative Care

Woman's Perinatal Palliative Care program offers support for families facing difficult decisions when expecting a newborn with life-limiting conditions.

Challenge

Sometimes, a patient cannot be cured or is experiencing life-limiting
conditions. Palliative care can provide the best quality of life for an
ill patient, whether for months, days or only hours, or be combined with
curative care to provide comfort as well as prolong life.

Many families experience a variety of pregnancy complications and high
risk conditions, including intrauterine demise, extreme prematurity,
anomalies and genetic malformations incompatible with life.

Woman's Response

Video: Make a Difference

Woman's Palliative Care program offers support and training for families
facing difficult decisions, recognizing that the patient and the
patient’s family is part of the care team.

How it Works

Palliative care is offered to patients of all ages and at any stage of illness.

In the NICU, palliative care includes symptom relief and pain management
for the infant and supportive care for the parents. Individual care is
based on parents’ wishes as well as spiritual and cultural beliefs.

Woman's perinatologists, neonatologists, nurses, social workers,
pharmacists, nutritionists, chaplains and more work together to support
patients and their families.

Adult patients diagnosed with cancer may also receive palliative care. The care team focuses on improving the patient's quality of life by relieving symptoms, pain and distress. The emphasis is on the person, not the disease.

Patient Story

"I will never forget the care we received from Woman's Hospital during our darkest hour. What we had hoped and wished for during nine months of pregnancy took a very sudden and tragic turn at the end, and we lost our precious angel. After 20 years, I am still forever grateful for the care, compassion and comfort that my baby girl and her mother and I received as we made very difficult decisions and ultimately grieved our loss. Although the outcome was devastating, Woman’s was there beside us through every step and the experience was exceptional. The love we felt will never fade."